Rain, rain, go away!

Up until today, the weather in Fort McMurray has been beautiful. I can hardly say the same for Calgary where, for about 6 of the 7 days I was there, it poured rain!

I was in Calgary last week for an off-site meeting, a PTO a two-day training course. Brodie was also off on Friday, so we headed out for a round of 18 at Speargrass Golf Course, located southeast of the city. It was about 9 degrees when we set out, but since there was a rare break in the rain, we decided to take our chances. Well, the 9 degree weather continued and despite the fact that I was wearing a golf skort, we weren't letting anything stand between us and the golf course. After a bucket of balls at the range and the purchase of golf pants at the pro shop, we were on the first tee box. It took us 3 hrs and 30 minutes to finish 18 holes and luckily the massive storm that had originally started making its way for us was rerouted to the south. As soon as we finished, we packed up and drove back into the city. After about 2 minutes on the road, it started to pour. Whew - just in time! I shot a 102 and am still looking to break the 100 mark. I've shot 100s, 101s, 102s, 108s and more, but I still cannot bring myself to get under the 100 barrier. This year I'm doing it.

Friday afternoon we set out car shopping. We'd been up to the Country Hills Toyota dealership on Thursday evening, but after a little research on a used 2007 Rav4, we decided it was scarily underpriced and the fact that the salesman's first words to us about the vehicle were "You don't want this one, it's a lemon" (although 15 minutes later he said he talked to his manager and that one wasn't actually the lemon, it was a "white one they have that they're not allowed to sel", we decided to look elsewhere. Friday took us to Canyon Meadows Toyota where we were introduced to an excellent salesman - about our age, hilarious and super nice. Not once did we feel like we were being sold to. So, we bit the bullet and bought a 2008 Rav4 Sport in Alpine White. We looove it. It's got a sunroof and black leather heated seats - it will be fabulous for the scary Fort McMurray winter. I left it in Brodie's capable hands untilt he end of June when we'll drive it back to B.C. for Funtastic and then I'll bring it up here to the great white north. While I'm still coming to terms with dropping that kind of cash on a vehicle, I appreciate the fact that the insurance on this brand new 4 wheel drive, V6 vehicle is less than it was on my 2002 Ford Focus SE in B.C. It's true, B.C. really does stand for "Bring Cash". We left the dealership and were able to pick it up on Saturday. Reid went through all the stuff with me then sent me on my way with a Toyota beach bag and 12 Callaway golf balls. We also purchased a rubber liner for the back (to contain Barkley's hair) and sidestep boards so I have something to stand on when I'm scraping the roof off in the winter.

That's the biggest news I have so far. It was nice to be able to spend the week with Brodie and his roomies. It was also nice to go to dog training with Brodie and Barkley. We even took Brodie's roommate's dog, Tyson to training. He's an 11 mth old pitbull - cute as can friggin' be!

I think that's about it for now. Writing this is interfering with my online poker game!

ciao...